5 sales writing archetypes that make NO money

Your prescription for better writing

In these parts, we talk about messaging, and we talk about writing copy, and we talk about how to do it in a way that works AND stands out as meaningful in a marketplace of hype and hot air.

But I’ve been mostly silent about the ways I watch business owners sabotage their own results in their writing.

Until now.

See, there are some archetypes when it comes to writing copy (copy = “words that sell”). I share them because you may notice that some of them feel rather familiar to you. If that’s the case, there’s a prescription for each.

Sound like anyone YOU know?

The Academic Intellectual Cogitator – this creature’s native habitat is her mind, bookstores, or the even the halls of higher education. When it comes to writing copy, she tends to value THINKING over feeling…so she tends to express herself using multisyllabic concepts. This blunts the impact of her writing, and as a results, she has a hard time getting her readers to FEEL—a key ingredient to moving them to take action.

Your Rx: Practice writing about how things feel. There are several ways to do this—you can name a strong emotion (shame, guilt, delight) or you can paint a picture of what daily life looks like for your reader (or how they WANT it to look).

The Cubicle Refugee – like the Academic Intellectual Cogitator, this writer has been conditioned to remove himself from his writing. He tends to use the passive tense (“significant increase in the trajectory of marketing response was experienced”) and use big words that don’t appear in everyday conversation. He may also be reluctant to reveal his true persona, as he’s often been encouraged to pretend to be someone else—a “professional”—to win acceptance.

Your Rx: Give yourself permission to write simple, clear language—using words that actually come out of your mouth. This will go a long way to connect you with other human beings—including prospective clients—yes, even if THEY are corporate. It’s okay to sound more conversational than you did when you worked in an office. If fact, I encourage it. Let freedom ring!

The Coachy Coach – the Coachy Coach LOVES coaching… which is totally understandable, because it’s changed her life. The problem is, she uses language that makes sense to other COACHES—but not to her ideal clients (yet). She doesn’t want to go back to more blunted ways of expressing herself, so she keeps using coachy coach language that doesn’t mean much if you aren’t fluent in “coach.”

Your Rx: Train yourself to use your “inside voice” with other coaches… and an “outside voice” with everyone else you want to hire you. Here is a partial list of words to translate when you use your outside voice: transformation, empowerment, true purpose, play a bigger game, coaching. Practice finding clear ways to explain what you mean for those terms. Be specific.

The Creative Life Empowerment Goddess – this divine being is truly inspirational, and appreciates being seen and received as such. I adore your luscious appetite for words and succulent expression… I just ache to help you sort out what you REALLY do that people are willing to invest in to experience.

Your Rx: Get curious. What are the common threads that run through the work you do with clients? Are their amazing outcomes that you’ve helped them achieve that you aren’t talking about enough in your copy? Strive to include RESULTS along with the gorgeous juiciness you are used to exuding on a regular basis.

The Cleverness Killer – you LOVE ideas. And you’ve got LOTS of ‘em. You get bored by business-as-usual, and the formulas and patterns you see others using in their sales writing. The problem is, sometimes you’re TOO clever—and others can’t find the reason THEY want to hire you in your writing! Your program names aren’t benefit-driven enough, and people think your stuff is cute—but they don’t buy. Oh, the agony! Please, you beg, don’t tell me to tune it down….

Your Rx: Find someone who is a good marketer and who knows you. Ask them to police your cleverness. You may find yourself hiding your copy from this person like a cleverness junkie (full disclosure: I did this for awhile with my business coach, because I didn’t want her to tell me to change it). Fight this urge. Share your sales pages, teleseminar names, and program titles with them—and ask them to help you fight your clever nature in your sales copy. ALSO, find an appropriate outlet to express your cleverness. Maybe a graveyard for your silly program names. Or some extracurricular activity (like improv or ecstatic dancing or streaking) where you can express your zany nature fully, and without restraint.

This is by no means an exhaustive list. But if you see yourself in any of these archetypes, know that there is a way out. You can evolve—even if it means having someone on your “cleverness killer police squad” for the rest of the life of your business (like I do).

The point is, you often have to transcend the way you naturally communicate, in order to more masterfully craft copy that resonates with the people you want to hire you. It isn’t always easy, but in the long run, it will be much, much more profitable.

Mighty thanks to VCU Libraries flickr photostream for the prescription